Advocacy Workshops

Climate action starts at the local level!

Greenbelt Alliance’s advocacy workshops empower attendees to make an impact on the future of their communities by providing the necessary skills and tools to become effective and enduring climate and housing advocates.

The impacts of climate change are being felt across the Bay Area and beyond. Building resilience that protects the people and places we love requires advocacy at the local level from members of the community like you! We get that it can be hard to take action when you don’t know where to start. Greenbelt Alliance is here to help.

Our advocacy workshops are designed to activate people from all walks of life so that making a positive impact on the region’s climate and housing crises is easy and effective. By participating in a workshop, you will gain a base-line understanding of the local planning processes that guide long term decisions that set the direction for how our communities address housing and climate needs. 

What to Expect: 

  • Each workshop is a 60-minute interactive session led by a policy expert
  • We work with you to ensure that content is based on specific goals and/or interests of the attendees
  • Attendees will receive an advocacy toolkit that includes sample letters, talking points, and example policies
  • We offer two workshop options on climate and housing described below

The Workshops

How to Impact Climate Policy in Your Community

Climate change has presented an opportunity to reimagine our relationship to the natural world and to each other. While the climate crisis is a complex, global problem that requires bold action from government leaders—community members possess the power to greatly impact environmental decisions being made at the local level. This includes building resilience to natural disasters, reducing greenhouse gasses, environmental justice, and more. During this workshop, you will work with an environmental policy and advocacy expert to understand how cities engage in long-term planning.*

Workshop Outcomes:

  • Understand what a General Plan is and how it impacts local decision making
  • Learn about Climate Action Plans and if your city or county has one
  • How to advocate around climate change at the local level in your community
  • Advocacy best practices for: letter writing, petitions, and making public comment
*The content in this workshop can be tailored for groups across the United States.

Housing Elements 101

California requires all cities and counties to adequately plan to meet the housing needs of everyone in their community. To do this, they adopt Housing Elements as part of their General Plan. With cities and counties preparing to update their Housing Elements—and given the Bay Area’s unprecedented housing crisis—Greenbelt Alliance is educating community members on how to leverage this process as an effective tool to influence climate SMART, inclusive development.*

Workshop Outcomes:

  • Understand how housing is a part of the climate solution
  • Learn what a General Plan is with special focus on the Housing Element
  • Understand how the Housing Element update process impacts local communities and how to advocate for climate SMART (Sustainable, Mixed, Affordable, Resilient, Transit-Oriented) development
  • Gain advocacy best practices for: letter writing, petitions, and making public comment
* The content in this workshop is geared toward California residents, however, we can offer tailored housing policy trainings for groups across the United States.
“We partnered with Greenbelt Alliance so that our employees could learn how to make a difference in their communities. We enjoyed the way they simplified complex subjects and gave us concrete next steps to take back to our cities, towns, and neighborhoods. Thanks to Greenbelt Alliance, I’m now plugged into my city council meetings and know the agendas ahead of time. That’s something I would have never thought of!”
Blair Hunter-Lull
Program Manager, Twitter

SCHEDULE A WORKSHOP

Interested in one of our workshops?

Complete this form or contact Paris Badat directly at pbadat@greenbelt.org | (415) 543-6771 X 315 to learn more and schedule a training!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Scroll to Top